Customer Reviews

Stoneware Monkey

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The art object titled Stoneware Monkey is an atrocious example of abstract art, a primitive representation so amateurish in its execution that it could be a discard from a juvenile art class. Nonetheless, Peter Gannet's work, largely primitive pottery formed without the aid of a potter's wheel, has gained respect from the eminent art critic, Mr. Bunderby, who explains: "The words 'abstract form' evoke in me the conception of that essential, pervading, geometric sub-structure which persists when all the trivial and superficial accidents of mere visual appearances have been eliminated. In short, it is the fundamental rhythm which is the basic aesthetic factor underlying all our abstract conceptions of spatial limitations."

Dr. Thorndyke's interest in Peter Gannett stems not from his artistic achievement, but is due to the fact that Gannet nearly died of arsenic poisoning. Although apparently only his wife, his business partner, and the maid had access to Gannet's food, no clear motive for the attempted murder was immediately apparent.

The Stoneware Monkey (1939) is a two-part narrative. The first section is told from the perspective of James Oldfield, M.D., a recent intern at St. Margaret's Hospital and a student of Dr. Thorndyke. The concluding portion is by Christopher Jervis, M. D.. a junior colleague to Dr. Thorndyke. Both narrators are intelligent observers as well as skilled physicians, and yet, neither keeps pace with Dr. Thorndyke's analysis of the situation.

The solution to this mystery is explained in careful detail, rather similar to the meticulous explication of an Ellery Queen mystery. I did not find the solution to be entirely unexpected, although I did miss some lines of evidence. I suspect that the final twist in The Stoneware Monkey was once quite novel and surprising. Thorndyke's solution, however, has apparently been appropriated in recent years by various mystery authors and writers of television screenplays.

R. Austin Freeman was an amazingly innovative author, and is credited as the father of the scientific detective story as well as the inventor of the inverted detective story. Amazingly, Freeman built every device and tested every chemical procedure used by Dr. Thorndyke to ensure their authenticity. In many cases his techniques were subsequently emulated by early police laboratories. For The Stoneware Monkey Freeman even sculpted his own stoneware monkey; my Dover reprint edition has a photo of Freeman's primitive sculpture.